How Far Will You Go?
Recently, I was a guest on a panel of authors speaking to writers at an event sponsored by the International Women’s Writing Guild, held in New York City. The event was on a beautiful spring weekend when most people would rather be outside in their yards and gardens.
But writers will gladly give up fun in the sun to find out the secrets to getting a book published—and they will travel a far distance for the same reason. At this event, audience members were from New York City, the surrounding metropolitan area and nearby states, as well as from as far away as Texas and Peru. The authors on the panel also came from far away places like New Orleans and Michigan.
While I was amazed at the distance people had traveled to be at this NYC event, I realized I should not have been. After all, for five years I was a volunteer Speaker Host at the Maui Writers Conference. Each year I spoke with writers from all over the US who had planned and saved and finagled in order to come to the conference, attend the seminars, and meet the agents and editors in this paradise setting. Writers will go to great lengths and great distances to study and learn about the art, craft, and business of writing.
Here is the thing though. We—and by “we” I mean anyone involved in creativity of some form—can use the learning process as a form of, uh oh, PROCRASTINATION! Yes, the more we think we have to learn, to read, to study, the longer we are able to procrastinate, put off having to actually create, having to actually risk life and ego to finally put our imaginative ideas into form. And this attending of conferences, reading more books, taking more classes, eases that nagging sense of guilt that we should be doing something.
Don’t get me wrong! Conferences, books, seminars, classes are important stepping stones to successful creativity—but they are not the true destinations.
As I listened to the other panelists share their stories that day, I heard a similarity between all ten of us. First, we each had a strong belief in our work, our writing. Secondly, we had the willingness to do whatever it took—within legal bounds, mind you—to get our books published, even if we had to do it ourselves.
We may do it kicking and screaming, as I did when I finally decided to self-publish my book, Weaving a Woman’s Life, but, in the end, what else can we do if we are to truly and fully honor the Gift of our creative work?
So we must decide. Are we willing to invest at least as much time, energy, thought, and effort into creating and sharing our work as we are in planning and getting to that next conference?
We will travel far and long to listen to others tell us of their successes and how we too, can be successful with our creativity. But the really important questions? How far will we go to make our creative imaginings manifest in the world? How far will we go to honor the creative urgings of our souls?